QuicKeys, in versions 2.0 for Windows and 5.0 for the
Macintosh, automates keystrokes. This is what's called a "macro"
generator, a type of program that has been around for decades and is loved
by just about everyone who has ever used one.

A macro combines a number of small actions -- keystrokes,
mouse movements, modem dial-ups, etc., into a single group that can be
activated by a pair of keystrokes or a mouse click. While the actions are
small, the result can be large. If you look at a set of stocks at the end
of the day, for example, you can automate the process of dialing up the
stock database, downloading the data, saving it, and then logging off and
shutting down.

Many programs are available for generating macros, and in
fact Microsoft Office and Microsoft Word both come with macro abilities
built in. But neither of those has nearly the power of QuicKeys and their
macros are often restricted to operating only in other Microsoft Office
programs.

QuicKeys comes with a menu screen of dozens of commonly
useful macros already generated and ready to fire at the click of a mouse:
check spelling, choose printer, select screen resolution, collect e-mail,
compress file, etc. It also has a "camera" feature, which when
turned on, captures whatever keystrokes and mouse clicks that follow until
the camera is turned off again. This is similar to a macro camera feature
that used to be part of the Lotus office suite.

If you don't like having to remember what keys trigger a
particular sequence of actions, QuicKeys lets you create a menu bar where
the required action can simply be clicked with the mouse. The new feature
we like best, though, affects the Windows clipboard and allows you to save
185 items for quick pasting into e-mail and new documents.

QuicKeys is from CE Software in Des Moines, Iowa. The
Windows version is $50, the Mac version $100 (the Macintosh macros can be
triggered by voice as well as keyboard and mouse). A free trial version
can be downloaded from the web site. Phone info: 800-523-7638 or
515-221-1801; web: www.quickeys.com.

Hard Copy

Epson's new "Expression 1680" color scanner
kicks the resolution up to 1600 by 3200 dpi (dots per inch). Similar
scanners will be out soon from Hewlett Packard as well. Street price for
the Expression 1680 is around $800.

This is actual scanning resolution, not interpolated,
which is what is often claimed in scanner ads and printed on the boxes
and, from the evidence of our mail, confuses people no end. Interpolated
resolution is not the resolution of the scanner but the result of software
that measures the darkness of adjoining dots and then calculates what a
dot between those two should look like; it then adds that to the printout.
The result is good but not as good.

The increasingly high resolution of personal scanners was
a major factor in the decision to alter U.S. currency a couple of years
ago and of course still creates a problem in the counterfeiting of other
documents and trademarked labels. I have no solution to this problem, and,
I notice, neither do a lot of other people whose livelihood is much more
influenced by such counterfeiting than mine.

-- www.tutorialfind.com One
of our best finds of this new year. How-to's on practically everything.
How to fix a doorknob: ("Take control of your doorknob and the door
will follow," the tutorial advises.). Learn cartooning, quilting,
digital photography, piano playing, and how to create realistic images of
glass in Autodesk's 3D Studio Max. A happy place to spend your time. Learn
a thing or two.

-- www.consumerlab.com An
independent testing lab for health and nutrition products. They looked at
27 vitamin supplements, for example, and found that one-third of the
brands did not deliver what the package promised. Nearly one-half the
ginseng products tested were contaminated with pesticides; two had more
than 20 times the amount considered safe. Sample reports are free as an
introduction, otherwise there is a fee of $3.95 a month for reports on one
topic, $11.95 for a year of unlimited use. We signed up for a year.

--www.zdnet.com Download a
free miniature golf game for Windows. Type title "WildTangent Front
9" in their search box.

Books: corporate trouble-shooting

Osborne/McGraw-Hill has a series of trouble-shooting books
for Windows called the "Admin 911" series. The "admin"
part stands for system administrator; "911" of course is the
standard police emergency phone number throughout the United States. The
series covers tips and solutions in several areas that corporate system
administrators have to deal with. Rather than our going into each book and
its contents, you can sample them at a special web site: www.admin911.com,
which lets you look at all seven books.

Chess

"Chessmaster 8000," from The Learning Company,
$40 for Windows 95 and up. This is the leading chess playing and
instruction program; earlier versions, going back a decade, have sold over
four million copies in all. This is the most powerful chess program you
can buy. Web: www.chessmaster.com.